The Principal of College for Humanities and Social Sciences
Prof Enos Njeru (centre) during the orienation ceremony. He is accompanied by IDS
Director Prof Winnie Mitullah and Associate Director Prof Karuti Kanyinga.

The Institute for Development Studies welcomed its Master of Development Studies (MDEV) students for 2017/2018 academic year in an elaborate orientation ceremony graced by the Principal of the College of Humanities and Social sciences Prof Enos Njeru, Deputy Principal Prof Mohamud Jama, IDS management, staff and students.

A total of 27 students, including those from countries within the East African, region were admitted to pursue the prestigious programme.

In her welcome remarks, the IDS Director Prof Winnie Mitullah congratulated the new students, noting that they had chosen a very good place for scholarship - UON. The director, however, cautioned the new students against laxity and urged them to stick to academic fidelity and complete their course within the stipulated two-year duration. She advised them to seek knowledge relentlessly through reading, consultation and class participation.

“If you came to look for mere MDEV certificates you are in the wrong place. We emphasise knowledge acquisition and that is why many of our students who are yet to graduate have already gained requisite knowledge and we risk losing them to the employment market before graduating,” said Prof Mitullah.

The director then welcomed the CHSS principal, who formally welcomed the admitted students to the College- the biggest at the University of Nairobi. Prof Njeru told the new students to uphold academic excellence since they had joined the best university regionally,and in sub-Saharan Africa. He noted that UON is highly ranked globally.

IDS students during the orientation ceremony.

“University of Nairobi is a worldclass university and this means good students, good teachers, good research and benchmarking with others. Fifty percent of the academic staff are PhD holders while the College of Humanities and Social Sciences alone has over 80 professors,” said Prof Njeru.

IDS Associate Director Prof Karuti Kanyinga gave an overview of the Institute. He traced its origin in 1965, its uniqueness over other similar institutions and the successes encountered in the over half century journey.

“We are Institute for Development Studies and not of Development Studies. This means that we not only study development but also apply development practice. Development studies at IDS are multidisciplinary. We boast of having scholars from a number of disciplines, including political science, sociology, economics, and geography. We have influence in policy thinking in public and private arena,” said Prof Kanyinga, who also pointed out that IDS has produced two Nobel Prize laureates and several other award winning scholars.

The MDEV Programme Coordinator, Dr Joseph Onjala, also welcomed the new students and congratulated them on their admission. He said that they had been competitively selected out of hundreds of other applicants who had expressed interest in the course. Dr Onjala introduced the students to the programme and warned them against academic malpractices, especially plagiarism.

Other IDS researchers present included Prof Dorothy McCormick, Prof Mohamud Jama who is also CHSS Deputy Principal, Dr Paul Kamau, Dr Anne Kamau, Dr Radha Upadhyaya, and Dr George Michuki. The staff made contributions at the ceremony, emphasising and elaborating some of the points that were covered by the main speakers, which made the occasion a great beginning of the academic year IDS day.